Prior to the explosive growth of electronic communications systems in the relatively-recent past, the typical individual's problem with “information” was getting timely access to it. News of local events, regional business and politics, and even news of entertainment value was delivered by newspaper, mail, or word of mouth. Not only were such methods slow, but were relatively inconsistent so far as delivering information that was useful to the particular individual at the time of delivery. There was often very little people could do to improve the situation; the number of media sources was very limited. A person's only recourse was to do the best they could with the news and information that actually made it to them.
The quality of information delivery improved greatly, of course, with the advent of broadcast radio and television, and the public-switched telephone network. Delivery was now virtually instantaneous. As much of an improvement as these innovations represented, however, an individual was still required to be present at the location of a particular delivery device (for example, telephone, television, or radio) at the proper time in order to retrieve information of interest. And, at least in the case of TV and radio, presence at a particular time of day was necessary. Information had become much easier to obtain, but delivery was, for practical reasons, still in some ways inconsistent.
Information delivery improved again as new information networks, and new devices to tap into them were introduced. Wireless cellular phones became portable and could be carried with the individual who could thereby have access at least to information that was available from a called party—a source with whom the individual could make telephone contact. Personal computers are themselves relatively inefficient information sources, but when connected to a network, they give their users access to a wide variety of information. The ubiquity of the Internet especially, in conjunction with the World Wide Web, enables an individual to access information of personal interest from a vast array of providers. And personal computers are becoming more portable and easier to use for network connections while traveling from one place to another.
These developments in electronics and communications have not only provided greater access to information from a wide array of sources, but indirectly they have led to the availability of an even greater amount of information. Spurred by the prospects of profit, visibility, or greater public awareness that attaches to successful information sourcing, a multitude of providers have made their information content available, either to the public at large, or to subscribers, through the Internet, broadcast and community-antenna television, and a variety satellite communications networks. Information made accessible almost anywhere no longer has to be of general interest, but given the number of channels through which it may be received, it may be more esoteric and of interest only to a narrow population segment that accesses it.
Yet for all the advances made in recent years that continue to provide an ever-increasing amount of information that is easily available to an ever-expanding segment of the population, access to information remains a concern—though for a different reason than in years past. Whereas before, timely information access was largely hindered by the limited means of delivery, a key obstacle today is the overwhelming amount of content constantly being transmitted. There remains, of course, matters of general interest that are efficiently disseminated through broadcast, and items of purely personal interest that are obtained through mail, telephone, and facsimile. A large amount of information in between these opposite ends of the information spectrum, however, remains almost universally available, but at the same time, difficult to access in an efficient fashion because it is intermingled with so much other information. Moreover, information recipients are more mobile than ever, and so the problem remains not only sorting through this vast supply of information for news that is relevant to them, but doing so while they are on the move.
Needed is an automated way to obtain delivery of individually relevant information at an individual's present location and at the most opportune possible time and in a personalized manner. The present invention provides just such a system and method.